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Author Notes:Versions of this simple quick dessert have circulated around the valley for years. It's a great dessert to make at the last minute. I have quite a few lemon trees , mostly Eureka (big thick skinned), but only a few sweet Meyer lemons which make the best tart. But, it only takes one large lemon! Unfortunately for me, lemons don't pair very well with red wine. - dymnyno —dymnyno

Food52 Review: People who taste this smooth, fragrant tart won't believe that it contains a whole lemon, rind and all! Nor will they understand how you got it to be so fragrant and light and not at all gummy like lemon curd tarts can sometimes be. In our view "Mary" wasn't lazy at all, she was brilliant. She has you whiz the filling together in a blender, then simply pour it into a blind-baked tart shell. Dymnyno gave the tart her own touch -- a Meyer lemon -- which lends it fragrance and finesse and none of the intrusive acidity found in regular lemons. One catch: you'll need to use your own tart dough. If you don't have a favorite, we recommend the Joy of Cooking's sweet pastry dough. We lined a 9-inch fluted tart pan with it, pricked it with a fork, filled it with pie weights and blind-baked it at 375 F for 15 minutes then removed the weights and baked it for another 10 minutes. Once the tart shell cooled we added the lemon filling and sent it back for one last turn in the oven. Start checking it at 35 minutes. - A&M —The Editors

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Serves 1 tart

1
large Meyer lemon, cut into 8 pieces

1 1/2
cups superfine sugar

1
stick butter

1
teaspoon vanilla

4
eggs

Your favorite tart shell

Heat oven to 350° F.

Put all ingredients (except tart shell) into a blender and whirl like crazy!

Pour into tart shell.

Bake for 40 minutes or until set, watching so that the top doesn’t burn.

I made this today with the following modifications. It is delicious and so easy!1. Pie crust - blind baked at 350 for 10 minutes with pie weights, then 5 minutes without. Didn't really let it cool before using. I used a 9" tart shell and store bought crust.2. Used a large regular lemon (5 ounces). I peeled off the rind and then cut off the white pith with a paring knife until it was down to mostly fruit. This helped with the bitterness. I also added juice from 1/2 a small lemon.small lemon3. Melted the butter before using4. Added 2T flour and 1/4 cup buttermilk5. Only had to make for 35 minutes

So, my mom and I just made this...and initally we followed the recipe to a "t" except for the use of myer lemons. I made the crust according to the Joy of Cooking (the egg crust), and followed the lemon tart recipe. The crust was a bit brown (that concerned me), but we were braving on. My mom took the tart crust and went to put it in the fridge. Between the counter and the fridge shelf...something happened and the crust encountered the floor...inadvertently. No more crust. We went with the old standby, a graham cracker crust...and the dessert was still amazing, in spite of the change in the crust.

Delicious, easy and so quick to pull together from ingredients right at home. No Meyer lemons available so I followed other wonderful advice below and removed bud end, pith and seeds on a regular large lemon, added half a lemon more in juice form only, two tablespoons of cream and a half tablespoon of flour to thicken. Since I made 4 tarts at once I played with the cooking time and thickness of the filling. The very best tart was quite thin on the filling and cooked until it was just beginning to bubble and turn clear. Absolutely the right amount of lemon tartness when made with a 1/4 cup less sugar as Laurie suggested. Great recipe that will become a staple on my favorites list.

Super-duper. Combined the comments and came out with a real winner. Used Bill Smith's Atlantic Beach Pie crust, 2 Meyer lemons and the buttermilk and 2 Tbs. flour addition from Clair Gu's comment. Cut out 1/4 cup of sugar. Came out with a larger tart - 10", really outstanding. Served with fresh strawberries and whipped cream - strawberries cut the sweet. Big hit!!!

This is a great, easy recipe. I used regular sugar and lemons. I did add an extra juice of a lemon. Also, I prebaked the crust for 10 minutes before adding the filling. I brought it to my knitting club here in the Cayman Islands and of course shared the recipe.

Just made this on a whim because I had an extra tart shell hanging out in my freezer and some lemons that I'd half zested laying about. Gotta say—pretty impressed with how it came out! The texture of the filling is surprisingly nice, and has a lovely pulpy quality from the whole fruit, which I actually enjoy (like good fresh OJ). I used a regular lemon and absolutely loved the slight bitter note balancing out the uber-creamy and sweet middle.

I made some alterations out of necessity (its midnight here, no last minute grocery runs!): I used standard white sugar in place of superfine in the same ratios and just whizzed it in the food processor for a bit, I added about 1/4c of buttermilk because.. well, I had an old jug and why not, and I added 2 T of flour to account for the extra liquid in the recipe. But followed the instructions (take stuff, dump in processor, whiz, pour) exactly, and used the editor's notes with regard to my crust.

I love this tart, and have made it several times, but sometimes it comes out very wet. Size of eggs? Would putting in another egg help? I also reduce the sugar by 1/4 cup, and usually use regular lemons. Thanks!

Love this, so simple! Made it with my 9 year old and it was a quick and easy recipe that is perfect to make with kids. No, it is not a perfect "smooth" custard - hence the whole lemon, rind and all simplicity! Added more lemon juice to keep it even tarter for my sour loving family. Crust was soggy on the bottom, so agree with note below that pre-baking crust would be ideal. Next time!

Such an iconic recipe--it would be great if you'd edit to merge the instructions with Lazy Mary's Improved Lemon Tart https://food52.com/recipes... I suggest this recipe to lots of people, especially new cooks, but I feel I have to suggest both recipes to them, as neither one includes the full instructions for a complete tart.

Never bake a pie before and my daughter loves lemon bar, so make one last week. It was so easy and fool proof and turned out so good. We're lucky to have relatives with Meyers lemon tree and just asked them to pluck a few and we'd have a wonderful desert.

Made this with a biscuit crumb shell blind baked for 10 mins, before filling.. Would have been terrific , only I used thick skin lemons, Big Big mistake, very tart, will try to find thin skinned normal lemons as unable to obtain Meyer lemons. Wish I had read the comments before making.

Since I am too lazy to make a crust, I used the fillinf part of this recipe, and the cracker crust from Bill Smith's Atlantic Beach Pie (also on F52). It's not cold yet, but I had to cut it due to circumstances beyond my control, so of course, I had to taste test. Yum!

Has anyone tried this with an alternative to white sugar? Usually I bake with coconut palm sugar but wondering if the flavor might be too dark... I do have blonde coconut sugar which worked great in my gluten-free lemon ginger blueberry muffins but not sure how it'd be in this. Honey is too strong tasting and agave is more neutral but I'd think it'd throw the liquid ratio way off. Hmmm...

This is about a bazillion times easier than lemon bars and couldn't be any tastier -- or prettier! Made this for lemon lovers and it didn't disappoint. Will happily make it time & again. If Meyers aren't available I'll use a regular thin-skinned lemon since we like things a bit puckery!

I love the simplicity and ease of this tart! It's sort of like Donna Hay's baked lemon pudding, where she blitzes the whole lemon with sugar and egg yolks. I'm yet to venture into tart-making territory, and this would be a good tart to start with.

Made this yesterday - my first experience with Meyer lemons. It was very good, but I was disappointed . . . not tart enough, too sweet. Suppose that depends on the lemon! Texture was good. Next time I will use a regular lemon, sans seeds, and see what happens. Might reduce sugar to 1-1/4 or 1-1/2 cups.

When doing this I like to use an organic lemon if you can get one, or a well scrubbed regular one. I remove the seeds because they are bitter and my consistency usually has tiny bits of lemon that make for an interesting texture, I think. However, if you blend it longer I presume it would get to creamy.

It is nice sugarless with maple syrup poured on. I don't think lack of sugar has harmed the structure of the filling. so add sweetened cream (even better creme fraiche) to serve and less sugar in the pie would be a lovely variation.

To Kath who forgot the sugar - ouch!To Leslie, I've never tried freezing it but I don't think I would. It might get watery when it defrosted. Maybe just the crust in the pan, then crisp it up again in the oven for a few minutes?

i haven't read through all the comments, so i was just wondering how big of of a tin does this amount of filling fill?, also if using pre-rolled pastry, does it need to be blind baked first? - not sure as it takes 40 minutes in the oven anyway

A 9-inch pie pan is pretty perfect. You could use a 10-inch and bake for a bit less time, or an 8-inch for a bit more. I would just keep your eye on it starting at the 30-minute mark. Also, I don't blind, or pre-bake the 'pre-rolled', or ready-made pastry.

I have been careful with the oven temp and have even adjusted it down and added time but the top of my tarts is always a nice golden brown. No matter. I tell folks it's a Browned Butter Fresh Lemon Tart. Really delicious but you have to remove the bitter pith, which I commented on below.

This is my new favorite recipe! So good, and so easy it feels like cheating. I used a 4 oz Meyer lemon (thanks to some of the other comments for guidance), and the Classic Tart Dough recipe from the Cook's Illustrated cookbook. And I garnished with fresh lavender from my garden and put a few drops of lavender extract in the whipped cream. Rave reviews all around the table. Thanks for sharing this gem of a recipe that will be in my arsenal for many years to come!

I've tried it both ways - with Meyers and regular lemons. The Meyer lemon version is a dream - sweet, delicately fragranced and totally lemony. The regular lemon version ended up bitter but my husband and friend LOVED it.

The pith (white layer between the rind and fruit) is the culprit when it comes to being bitter. I have used all kinds of lemons and plan to try it with lime. The trick, regardless of the type of lemon is to remove the peel in sections and, laying the outside down, using a sharp knife, cut in a horizontal position until the white pith is gone from each section. The slice the rind, which is yellow on both sides now, into smaller pieces and toss into the blender. I also remove any seeds since they might add bitterness, too. The toss in the lemon fruit and the rest of the ingredients, blend like mad & go from there. This has been an instant favorite.

I really want to make this for dessert for a dinner I'm organising but as with so many recipes, it requires a blender and I only have an electric hand blender and whisk. *sigh* Can't get a blender in time but saved for when I get one. Can't wait to try it!

We have two meyer lemon trees and tried this TWICE, using the entire lemon and the pie is bitter, bitter, bitter. The final solution was to peel the lemon and supreme the sections, adding them and some lemon zest to the blender. We took the easy way and just used a graham crumb crust which worked just fine.

Could the bitter be because of a lost seed? The first time I tried it, mine was just slightly bitter too. But I could tell it must have been a seed. The second time I made it I cut my lemons into smaller chunks to be sure I took out all the seeds, and it was perfect. Not sure if that's it in your case, but just a thought.

Sorry that I didn't answer before...I've been gone for a month. I used to assume that all Meyer lemons were very thin skinned and using the whole lemon, skin, pith and seeds worked. This year for some reason of nature my own Meyers are very thick skinned so using the whole skin and pith would probably yield a bitter tart. Maybe you have/had the same problem. Usually the skin is very thin. I guess our colder than usual winter was the culprit!

Made my second tart today. I don't like bitter tastes, so I peeled the lemons (easy if you cut off the ends, then slice just through the rind several times top to bottom. Then, just peel down the rind sections.) and removed the seeds. I cut the pith away and threw the rind into the blender along with everything else. I started with 1 cup of sugar and ended up adding another 1/4 cup. You really have to taste to make certain of the amount of lemon and sugar. I baked the tart at 325F because the 1st one at 350F was too brown. This on was also brown, but lighter in color and quite pretty, actually. My ancient oven probably runs hot. Anyway, this is a winner. I am inspired to try limes, oranges and a combination of citrus in this recipe. Love this one.

This dessert was so incredibly easy and flavorful. Great way to perk up any run of the mill weeknight dinner. The only issue was that a whole stick of butter makes it a little oily. The second time I made it, I used less butter, one cup of sugar and substituted 2 of the eggs with egg whites to make it a bit lighter. It was perfect and just as flavorful.

I've been doing a low-carb almond-flour crust and I do not pre-bake it. I use this recipe: http://lowcarbdiets.about.... Press it into the pie plate by hand, pour in the filling and bake. It's a great tart! Hat's off to Lazy Mary!

This recipe saved my life! I had a ton of meyer lemons and was making a tart from a recipe for lemon squares (in which you juice a ton of lemons, zest them, add eggs, etc.), and as I was about to put it in the oven, I spilled the entire filling on the kitchen floor. The thought of starting over filled me with dread, and then I thought, "Lazy Mary's Lemon Tart!" It was wonderful as usual--even the non-lemon lovers in my family really liked it. XO

I made this tonight baked in pie shells. It was a great flavour but not tart which is what we were expected. I am freezing the tarts and will use them as a base for mini trifles using lemon curd. The recipe is excellent.

oh yes, yes, yes, yes! I made this, the new and improved version. The crust was a snap to make and the filling was AMAZING. I served it with some cold, whipped cream (dont ask if there's some other way to serve whipped cream but cold!). We had this before dinner and I have NO regrets. Now that I'm down to 2 Meyer Lemons, I will make another one and then probably rely on a mix of oranges and lemons! I made it once with whole lemons and it was bitter....but found a following in my husband and a friend! Thank you

GREAT recipe! And it works for the lazy, LOW CARB types, too! I use a press in crust of almond flour, melted butter and a little xylitol, and sub xylitol for sugar - using less, only barely one cup this time, and 3/4 c last time, and it was fine! Add some whipped cream? Just delicious!!

For lack of a Meyer lemon I substituted 2 very small thin-skinned regular lemons - as opposed to the larger more substantial ones. (This, of course, resulted in a visit from the produce manager asking why I was "playing" with the lemons.) Whatever..... I followed the blender directions, but baked it in a Keebler Chocolate Crumb Crust. Oh my!!! Topped with a dollop of real whipped cream, this is heaven on a plate!

I made this delightful tart with Rose Levy Beranbaum's basic flakey pie crust recipe and followed the directions exactly as listed. It only took 35 minutes to bake this tart. It's totally worth a try. So easy to make and very impressive in it's flavors!

no Meyer lemons to be found =- so just chopped up one large lemon - did take the seeds out but that was all and whirled away in the blender and popped it in the oven, Oh my goodness - new favorite dessert. My husband and son wanted to eat what was left but I hid it from them so I could savor it today!

Variations on a theme...with no meyer lemons to be found I substituted another thin skinned citrus: kumquats. If you love kumquats this was quite good...but ya gotta love kumquats! The higher peel to interior ratio made for a "not so smooth" tart but it was pretty and the flavor was all there. I also made one with regular lemon that I zested, removed the white layer and processed the same way. They were both delicious. I was too lazy to make crust but Trader Joe's frozen crust is pretty darn good.

I made it yesterday with a regular lemon as my Meyer tree is inside and just bloomed with flowers, so no lemons yet. I took one lemon and cut 2 slices which I used with the rind and the rest of it I cut off the rind and just pitted it and threw it all in. It came out amazing, everyone loved it. It has a tiny bit of that sharp taste from the rind but everyone liked it. If I did it again I'd try it with just one slice of the rind and probably cut back on the sugar (I didn't use superfine sugar, just regular and most of the comments were about it being a little too sweet). Super easy, even with making my own crust (but I bake all the time so this was easy to me). Great recipe!

Wonderful! Made this with my circa 1964 Waring blender - in constant use over all these years. Reminds me of the kind of "magical" recipes that circulated during those early years of blender cooking: chocolate mousse, hollandaise, etc etc

I made two today, and they were obscenely good. Made the first using one good size Meyer lemon, after seeding, of course, and also removing the membrane from the wedges. As previously stated, Meyers vary in sweetnes, and mine were particularly sweet. This tart came out fabu-fabu, but I wanted to try another. Using the same lemons, I added one and a half, same procedure. This one came out awesome as well, but with more natural lemon essence, understandably so. So, point being, this is a winner recipe, and will be to play around with, without altering the essentials. Thank you for such a fresh, charming recipe!!

On your next trial, don't bother seeding the lemon or removing the membrane. The coolest thing about this recipe is that it's designed to blend the entire lemon, peel, seeds & all. (Which is why it's so important that it's a meyer lemon rather than a regular lemon.) That lazy step feels crazy when you do it, but tastes soooooooooooo good in the end product.

This was very easy to make (much easier than squeezing lemons for juice and zesting the rind), and it was good, just not as lemon-y as I was hoping for, maybe Meyer lemons are going out of season . . .

Went right out to Fresh Market for the Meyer lemon and made the pie this afternoon. It's like an easy version of the Shaker Lemon pie so popular here in central KY. Same fresh sharp lemon taste and chess pie-like texture, but no fine slicing required. Thanks!

Dymnyno, you are a lifesaver! I've made about a half dozen of these since you posted this recipe, and it's now a favorite. So easy to make that I always volunteer to bring dessert to any get together. It's so beautiful and elegant and looks like you slaved at it all day. Pure genius!

Wow wow wow.I think my world just shifted on its axis & I have a new sun! This Lemon Tart is the easiest dessert I've ever made & one of the most delicious. Taking the Lazy in the title literally, I bought a frozen pie crust & just poured the blender ingredients in & baked it all at once. It took 45 minutes instead of 40, but came out perfectly golden & tasted amazing. I then did some taste-testing experiments: eating it hot, cold, at room temp & frozen/defrosted. My verdict? I agree with all the food picklers who said lemon pies taste best at room temperature. It also survived the freezer test & tasted "good" upon defrosting, but it lost some of the iridescent flavor it had when it was fresh. Thanks dymnyno for sharing this recipe!

Does this pie freeze well? Please don't be offended by the question! I've been saving the recipe until meyer lemons came into season & just saw them in the store today. I have a lemon-lover friend who is out of town this month, and I'm afraid the meyer lemons will be gone by the time she returns.

I dithered and eventually used 1.5 of the 4 oz size ....so about 6 oz. It baked up fine but I cannot attest to the taste as I put it out on the buffet and it was gone before I got a chance to try it. Must have been good!

Has anyone tried doubling this and making it in a 9x13 or so pan...or even a 15" jelly roll like a big lemon bar? I wonder if it would work? I have 25 coming for open house/dinner and I'm looking for some easy, big, in season and delicious dessert. TIA.

No, and I don't think that I would try it. Both times I made it I was nervous that I took it out too soon. The top browned nicely but it had a slight jiggle to the center. I'd be nervous that the center wouldn't set if it were in a larger pan. That being said, it's an insanely incredible dessert!

I just made this tart this morning for Thanksgiving dinner. I have a meyer lemon tree and the fruit just start to ripping. I don't know why my tart doesn't come out as good as everybody was so raved about. I definitely can taste the bitterness of the pith.lemon lover

I have a Meyer lemon tree too - never tasted bitter pith in any of my lemon recipes. When I first made this incredible tart, I learned to cut back on the sugar! Perhaps it is just the difference between various trees...In any case, my are green golfballs and I want them to hurry up and ripen!

Awesome recipe! I used Eureka lemons by zesting them and just using the fruit, and it came out delicious. My room mates totally devoured it in one evening. It's so simple and quick I'm making two more this Sunday. Thanks so much for sharing this!

Made this for a dinner party tonight. Had some extra filling so I baked it in a ramekin. It's hard to believe I used a whole lemon...I think I will reduce the sugar some next time - so hard to judge, as Meyer lemons vary re sweetness. Thank you-

Made this for a dinner party Saturday night and it was a HIT! I used a pecan maple crust recipe that is super easy (Lazy Me!
:-) and it all came together perfectly. Bless you Lazy Mary! This appears to be one of the most popular recipes on Food52!!!

Can you share the recipe for the pecan maple crust? I was considering a pine nut crust (a la French Laundry cookbook), but the pecan and maple sounds heavenly. I have a dinner party coming up and this is definitely on the menu.

Hey I JUST saw this post! Crust is easy-peasy and I don't really measure per se ... just mix half ground pecans half flour (maybe about 1/2 - 3/4 cups each) then pulse those with a stick of butter, then drizzle in enough maple syrup to form it into a sort of dough - I spray a pie plate with no-stick then press this mixture in - and that's IT ... I bake it as is for no bake (cream cheese) fillings and with your tart I just filled and baked and it was perfect!

made this one yesterday. Excellent recipe, everybody enjoyed it including kids! Thanks for posting. I actually used only 1 cup of sugar and it was great and accentuated the flavor of the lemon. Also, trying Merrill & Amanda's approach for baking the tart shell, it was a little over baked, so I think I'll try dymnyno approach next time. This is a keeper!

We made this last night and the results were fantastic. I used one meyer lemon that was big - maybe 3.5” in length and 2.5” in diameter. I cooked the tart for around 35 minutes until the top was brown. The flavor was sublime...Also, not a bad recipe to do with kids since the blender part is a kid magnet - easy, loud and foolproof.

I made this recipe as soon as I saw it! It was delish! However it didn't set and was runny, unlike the photo. What do you consider a "large" meyer lemon? I think they are normally smaller than regular lemons. I used two 2.5" long ones, assuming they were small, was that too much? Also, I didn't have superfine sugar, so I ground the regular sugar in the food processor. Lastly, I approximated the cooking time and it could've been a little under 40 min (was distracted with kids). I'm guessing that was probably the cause. Any advise would be much appreciated. Thank you so sharing this recipe!!!

I finally made this "lazy tart" last night to accompany an equally lazy meal - stone crabs and mustard sauce from the fish market with roasted potatoes and asparagus. It was a fantastic end to the meal - much better than the traditional key lime pie. So good in fact that my husband and I both ate a slice for breakfast this morning and I'm making another one for our champagne tasting this Monday at the shop! Thanks for the recipe.

Very nice, I used a similar 'lazy technique' some time ago; making a tart with whole oranges and yogurt and no tart shell. You can find it with my recipes. I'll surely try this one with lemon as well, looks delicious and so fast.

I am not an expert on lemons. Meyer lemons are very sweet and have very thin skins with little bitter white pith. If you use a lemon with thin skin and very little pith it might work. Let me know if you try it.(I tried with a Eureka lemon once and it was aweful!)

If I were not using a Meyer lemon, I'd remove the outer. yellow zest and then remove everything inside the lemon, except the pips, of course. I.e., I'd make the tart using just the zest and the fruit, and not the pith and pips.

Mmmmm, yum. My Meyer lemons are just ripening now. I'll have to try this one soon. It looks a bit like a lemon curd, but much easier. Two thumbs up for that!! I've never thought about just putting the lemon in a blender for something like this. It makes sense, though, because the Meyer lemon has such a thin skin, there isn't much of the bitter pith that you get with other varieties. Thank you for posting this!